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Robin Roberts Talks Coming Out and Going Public with Her Girlfriend

Published
9:50 AM PDT, April 29, 2014

Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to give a health update and also opened up about her decision to come out as a lesbian and go public with her girlfriend, Amber Laign.

"I'm really, obviously very proud of you for coming out -- you came out on Facebook and talked about Amber," Ellen says to Roberts, 53, who has been with Laign for nearly nine years.

"That was my birthday, this is where I'm taking one for the team," Roberts said about her Facebook post that publicy revealed her sexuality. "She photographed much better in this picture than I did but I said, 'You know what, I'm gonna use this picture because you look so dog gone good,' and I'm like, hehe (laughing). You know? But we met on a blind date."

When Ellen notes that she read in Roberts' book that she doesn't live with Laign, she explains that it would be difficult because of her 3 a.m. wake-up time and she also added that her girlfriend prefers to avoid the media limelight. "She doesn't really like spotlight. Like she's here right now -- I can't get her to come out."

She added: "But you know, not everyone wants to be in the spotlight. She's very, very supportive and she's been right there beside me every step of the way. And it was actually the end of the year on my Facebook and I had been thanking my doctors, and nurses, my sister who was a perfect match. And rightfully so, and I asked her I said, I really want, I want to say thank you and in the book she takes the caregivers point of view and it's really funny that sometimes we didn't see the same thing eye-to-eye and I thought it was very powerful for people because there's so many that care for their loved ones and so to see her side of it and to see my side of it it was pretty interesting."